The Housing and Regeneration Scrutiny Panel met to discuss temporary accommodation and homelessness, the housing delivery programme, and training for neighbourhood services. Councillor Nawshad Ali, Chair of the meeting, and the other councillors were scheduled to review the Housing and Regeneration Scrutiny Panel Work Programme for 2025/26. They were also scheduled to note the dates of future meetings.

Housing Delivery Programme

Aneesh Maini, Head of Development, was scheduled to present a report on the council's housing delivery programme, which aims to provide new affordable homes and community facilities.

The report included a summary of schemes and homes delivered to date, and those still to be delivered, across all tenures¹:

• Gatward Green (12 homes delivered)
• Newstead House (12 homes delivered)
• Maldon Road (10 homes delivered)
• Bury Street West (50 homes delivered)
• Reardon Court (70 homes delivered)
• Ladderswood Estate (359 homes delivered, 517 to be delivered, subject to agreement of intensification of scheme and planning approval)
• ALMA Estate (679 homes delivered, 723 to be delivered)
• New Avenue (283 homes delivered, 219 to be delivered)
• Joyce & Snells (2,028 to be delivered, Pre-Construction Services Agreement (PCSA) Contractor Appointed)
• Meridian Water Ph1a (143 homes delivered, 6 to be delivered)
• Dendridge Close (27 to be delivered – Contractor appointed)
• Upton & Raynham (135 to be delivered – Contractor appointed)
• Exeter Road Ph1 (37 to be delivered – at Planning stage)

The report pack included more detail on some of these projects:

Joyce & Snell's

The council is progressing with plans to deliver a large regeneration project on the Joyce Avenue & Snell's Park Estates in Upper Edmonton. This project is scheduled to include the demolition of the existing buildings and delivery of 2,028 homes on the site, along with community infrastructure and public realm improvements.

The report pack stated that the scheme would deliver:

• 2,028 new homes, 50% affordable
• 574 Homes within detailed phases
• 1,453 Homes in Outline Phases
• 2,735 sqm of community & civic spaces across the development
• 2,981sqm of retail/commercial
• 793sqm of workspace
• Open Space Parkland; 20,930 sqm
• Soft Landscaping: 5,800 sqm

A hybrid planning application for Joyce & Snell's was submitted by the council in April 2024 and received resolution to grant in July 2024. The decision notice and shadow Section 106 agreement² were completed in May 2025.

Ladderswood Estate

The council entered into an agreement with New Ladderswood LLP and Mullaley & Co Ltd in December 2011. Phases 1-4 have been delivered, with Phases 5 & 6 due to commence. Discussions on the intensification of Phases 5 & 6 continue with the NLLP with their planning consultants. The proposed intensification includes 359 additional homes to the current planning for 517, bringing a total of 876 homes, subject to financial viability.

Alma Estate

Enfield Council and Countryside Partnerships have been working together on the regeneration of the Alma Estate to create a mixed-use neighbourhood. To date the project has delivered 679 homes, 444 of which are affordable homes, as well as community facilities. Phases 2b and 3 of the Alma Estate regeneration will provide 723 new homes, including 187 affordable homes.

New Avenue

The council appointed Countryside Properties as its Development Partner in 2014 with the Development Agreement signed in September 2017. Planning consent was granted in May 2018, initially for 408 homes of which 140 are affordable. A revised planning application was approved in March 2022 which increased the number of homes delivered to 502 homes. All the original estate properties have been demolished and Phase 1 is complete. Phase 2 is around 97% complete with the first affordable units already handed over.

Meridian Water

The council entered into a development agreement in 2019 with Vistry to deliver 242 affordable homes at Meridian Water. Phase 1a delivers 119 homes, 113 homes have been delivered to date with the remaining homes to be delivered by Q4 2025. Phase 1b currently delivers 123 affordable homes and is currently at planning stage following re-design to include a second staircase.

Upton & Raynham

The scheme at Upton & Raynham, is located off Fore Street and will provide 135 new affordable homes, including 46 three beds and 8 four beds. Homes will be delivered as 42 Social Rent, 66 London Affordable Rent and 27 Shared Equity. Cabinet approval for Main Contractor Award was successful in September 2025 with the homes due to be complete in 2028.

Dendridge Close

The proposal is to deliver 27 homes on the two former garage sites at Dendridge Close, part funded by the GLA³. The Main contractor has been appointed to start on site from January 2026 with completion over a 24 month period.

Future Projects: The Shires Estate

The Regeneration Team is assessing future opportunities for regeneration projects, with the Shires Estate identified as a key site as part of a future programme. The Shires Estate is situated in the wider Lee Valley Opportunity Area identified in the London Plan. The Estate is in need of regeneration, with the two existing high-rise blocks (Cheshire House and Shropshire House) to be demolished due to its poor condition.

Temporary Accommodation and Homelessness

Kayt Wilson, Director of Homelessness & Supported Accommodation, was scheduled to present a report providing an overview of the current position, pressures, successes and mitigations in relation to Temporary Accommodation (TA) in Enfield.

The report stated that the Housing Advisory Service has worked hard to drive service improvements, including ending the use of hotel accommodation. In April 2023, Enfield had 336 households in hotels at a cost of approximately £1.3 million per month. Through the creation of a rapid assessment and resettlement hub, the number of families in hotel accommodation is now zero.

The council currently has 3,125 households in temporary accommodation. The biggest drivers for homelessness are Section 21 notices⁴ and host ejection, where a family/friend asks a household to leave.

The report stated that the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) continues to drift from market rents, meaning that, for many households, there are no affordable options in the private rented sector. A report from Crisis/Zoopla indicates that, in and around Enfield, only a tiny minority (0.2 – 3.8%) of properties are at the Local Housing Allowance rate.

The report pack stated that Enfield needs to increase the supply of affordable accommodation to over 150 homes per month to meet current demand and reduce overall numbers in temporary accommodation.

The Housing Advisory Service are constantly reviewing the products on offer and look to create new solutions to mitigate the homelessness pressures. This includes:

• Strengthening the Council's Placement Policy to ensure the limited affordable properties in borough are allocated to those residents most in need.
• Continued avoidance of expensive hotel accommodation by focusing on alternative TA procurement.
• The expansion of the long lease scheme which provides more stability for tenants and landlords and delivers savings to the Council by minimising the impact of the Housing Benefit subsidy.
• Sole nomination rights to properties within Housing Gateway Ltd, the Council's solely owned housing company.
• An effective process to move singles out of TA, due to good performance the number of singles in TA has fallen.
• Improving working relationships with partner organisations such as the Job Centre, Probation, local hospitals, Children and Family services.
• Additional one-off funding is being sought to support Afghan housing and rough sleeping.
• A restructure is being developed to strengthen staff structures, improve efficiency and reduce reliance on agency staff.
• Continuing close liaison with MHCLG⁵ to ensure the housing benefit subsidy issue remains high on the agenda and alternative solutions are progressed.

Training and Development of Neighbourhood Services

Neil Wightman, Service Director (Residents) Housing and Regeneration, was scheduled to present a report providing an update on the training needs and plan for Council Housing front line neighbourhood and estate services teams. This includes a customer experience programme for frontline teams dealing with culture and skills, a range of mandatory training for all staff, and the context in which the services operate.

The objective of the customer care training is to build empathy amongst all staff and a better understanding of the resident experience to deliver an enhanced service.

The report also makes the Committee aware of the new Competence and Conduct Standard which will be enforced by the Regulator of Social Housing (RSH). The Standard came into force in October 2025 and applies to all registered providers, including local authorities and housing associations.

The key requirements are:

• Senior housing executives must hold or be working towards a Level 5 qualification (e.g. foundation degree).
• Senior housing managers must hold or be working towards a Level 4 qualification.
• Applies to all relevant individuals, including contractors delivering housing management services.
• Effective from October 2026 with a three year transition period, meaning all managers in scope need to have started and be working towards a qualification by September 2029.

Work Programme

The Housing and Regeneration Scrutiny Panel were scheduled to note the Housing & Regeneration Scrutiny Panel Work Programme for 2025/26.